


Reaching

by LensMind



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cuties being cuties in love together, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Relatively little angst after the first chapter tbh, Soulmates, mental bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-01 07:28:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8615044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LensMind/pseuds/LensMind
Summary: Levi’s bond didn’t shift into place or click into being like everyone had said it would. No… Instead, it exploded in a blinding fit of pain that yanked him out of sleep with a scream when he was 17 years old. 8 years on, and he finally sets eyes on his soulmate for the first time. And Eren is nothing he'd imagined, but everything he could have hoped for.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Because people were asking for it and I got excited when I tried to see if I could write it! 
> 
> Aside from the first chapter, I'm probably just going to turn this into a tooth-rotting fluffy fic with smut. Angst is probably not going to play too big a role, mostly because I need me some Ereri fluffy happiness, okay? 
> 
> The first chapter is more of a prologue to explain the background/build up the setting, the real stuff happens in the next part.
> 
> I'll probably post the next chapter (or first one if you've already read this prologue-y one on tumblr), sometime tonight or tomorrow. Much love <3
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy! If you want me, you can find my tumblr [here!](http://freckledbodty.tumblr.com)

**17/12**

Levi’s bond didn’t shift into place or click into being like everyone had said it would. No… Instead, it exploded in a blinding fit of pain that yanked him out of sleep with a scream.

His body was on fire, electricity shooting along his nerves, leaving him stiff and twitching against the mattress. His mouth hung open, screaming, as tears that didn’t belong to him started to roll down his cheeks. It hurt. Everything hurt. His heart was being ripped right out of his chest.

That was the first time he felt his soul mate: he felt their pain.

And he couldn’t do anything to help them.

The concept of a soulmate, of a mental link letting someone else see into his head, had always terrified Levi. Whilst everyone around him started to feel the connection to their fated partner in their younger school years, he’d been happy to remain alone in his mind. At seventeen, sure, maybe people would think he was weird to still be without a connected bond, but he’d paid it no thought.

Eventually the pain faded, but the bond was still there. Every now and then, it could give off a spark, like a socket threatening to short-circuit. Somehow, perhaps just in his gut, he knew that his soulmate wasn’t even aware of the bond yet – whatever he was going through now was too overpowering. So instead, Levi sat on his bed, the blankets wrapped around him, constantly trying to brush against his soulmate’s mind but he only ever got silence in return.

His parents didn’t make him go to school the next morning. How could they? Every now and then, the tears of his bonded would stream down his cheeks without warning, his mind still receiving lightning strikes of pain and hurt. For three days he remained in his room, functioning, but not really aware of anything but the flicker of life on the other end of the ribbon tying him to someone.

Looking back, he’d refer to that as the first time the bond turned on. But he didn’t count that as the first time he connected with his soulmate. That, came on the fourth day, in the middle of the night as Levi stared at the rain tapping against his window after the bond had been quiet for a few hours.

It was so slight, he wondered if he imagined it at first. A trickle of warmth running down his spine. Then again. A tentative brush, like a breath tickling his ear. It was confused, uncertain, a nervous feeling. And so Levi reached back, touching his fingers against the person on the other side and like that, they both sighed in relief.

They were both too new at this to exchange actual words, or even just clear feelings, but those little experimental touches seemed to be enough for now.

 _I’m sorry,_ the next touch back seemed to say: a shy touch to Levi’s cheek before it withdrew again.

And when Levi reached back, like a soothing stroke of the other’s back, he hoped his own message was clear: _I’m here._

**18/13**

His name was Eren.

It took a hell of a long time to learn that, of course. One thing Levi quickly sensed in those early months of a fresh new bond was that whoever his partner was, they were younger than him. Not a massive amount - it wasn’t like he was a teenager connected with a toddler or anything, but the age gap was significant enough that he could tell there was a lack of maturity there.

Whatever was going on in the kid’s life, it clearly was more distracting than finding his soulmate. Eren wasn’t good at keeping his feelings under control, so Levi would get bombarded by sudden waves of anger or sadness or pain pretty much daily. It left him on edge, almost unstable himself, and growing ever more agitated that he couldn’t actually do anything to help. There were times though, when it would be quiet, and Levi would sense just the slightest tickle of affection from the other side, Eren’s mind reaching out to him in a silent apology, like he knew just how much his emotions affected Levi. Those moments were nice, and it was in one of those moments that they managed to get across their first fully formed images to each other.

From Eren, Levi got the image of his name. A messy scrawl across a black background. They couldn’t hear each other yet, but Levi smiled as he saw the image of Eren’s name in his mind’s eyes - clearly the kid had tried hard to send it to him. As he lay in bed that night, letting the image linger in his head, he whispered his soulmate’s name for the first time. Eren sounded sweet on his lips.

**19/14**

Over the first year though, Eren’s constant mood shifts only got worse. Levi still didn’t understand what was happening, but his emotions were volatile, constantly threatening to explode. There were still those sweet and quiet moments between them, when they could just relax and feel for each other through the bond, but it grew harder and harder to find those moments.

Levi hated it because it made his own moods more unstable. Eren hated it because he felt endlessly guilty for making Levi deal with them.

So, Levi learnt to shut it off when he was nineteen.

It was something most people could do with a lot of practice, but it wasn’t all that pleasant. Levi had always been closed off, so in a way, it was easy to put walls up and keep Eren away. But shit did it hurt. First it just felt cold, empty, alone like nothing Levi had experienced before. Then, if he kept Eren out for too long, it just hurt. They managed though, they worked it out, and somehow, they got by.

**20/15**

And then the bond went quiet again, a buzz of nerves and embarrassment the only sign that Eren was still there. Levi laughed: somehow, he couldn’t imagine any other words being Eren’s first to him.

_“Fucking shithead!”_

Those were the two words Levi ever heard from Eren’s mind. Clear and crisp, and also so loud and unexpected he fell off his chair in the middle of his lecture.

As his mind filled with confusion, streaming down the bond towards Eren, oblivious to the professor asking if he was alright and Erwin tugging on his arm, Levi tried to work out if he’d imagined it.

He focused, forcing the words to appear in his mind and throwing them towards Eren.

_“Well, how fucking romantic…”_

Panic flooded his head from Eren’s end, and more words came through, muffled and static- like they’d moved into a bad service area.

_“Eh? N-No? Shit… Shit shit shit fucking shit!”_

**21/16**

A blurred image, shaking with excitement, popped into his mind as Levi sat in the cafe with his university study group. Blinking, he straightened his shoulders in surprise, gaze shifting to the window. He knew that image, it was the same thing that he could glimpse from this distance: the Eiffel Tower…

 _“Guess where I am?”_ Eren’s thoughts came through quietly - clearer than they used to be, but Levi still had to strain to hear.

 _“Paris?”_ Levi asked, ignoring the questioning looks from his classmates.

_“Paris.”_

_“We agreed not to meet until you’re 20.”_

_“But we can’t help if it’s a coincidence, right? I’m only here for a stop-over flight to America.”_

Levi sighed, his whole body bristling with excitement he refused to acknowledge at the thought that Eren was out there somewhere. Maybe close… Still, it would only be a silly, sixteen year old Eren, at that was 4 years too early.

 _“You’re not anywhere near me…”_ Levi reminded his soulmate, sensing Eren’s barely contained hope.

_“You don’t know that… I could be.”_

Levi’s eyes tried to subtly glance around the cafe, but he pushed that hope down before it could get too big. There was no way Eren was here. It would be too unlikely.

 _“Some say soulmates are drawn to each other…”_ Eren pointed out, apparently pouting because of Levi’s doubtful thoughts.

_“Because they look for each other, kid, not because of some magnetic twists of fate.”_

There was silence for a bit, and for a moment, Levi wondered if Eren had been distracted by something in his reality.

_“Cough.”_

Levi snorted behind his hand. _“I’m not coughing.”_

_“Cough if you’re here! Then we’ll know for sure. No harm in checking.”_

_“Couldn’t I just call your name instead?”_

_“No way, that’s too embarrassing, just cough.”_

Sighing and wondering how he, a 21 year old business student, was being talked into doing some secret check by his 16 year old soulmate, Levi coughed.

Eren could sense he’d coughed, and Levi could sense the heavy disappointment when he didn’t hear it. _“Guess you’re not here…”_

 _“Guess not.”_ The heaviness Eren’s pain settled upon Levi’s chest and he sighed again, running a hand through his hair as he wondered how Eren would manage another 4 years of waiting. In the end, he could only come up with one way to comfort him.

_“But one day I will be.”_


	2. Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Levi and Eren drink an unhealthy amount of coffee, yet it's not a coffee shop AU, promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you the next chapter would be fast.. a few hours fast ;) 
> 
> Haven't decide when the next chapter will be up, probably in the next few days - or at the latest this weekend - it is already finished, but I want to get at least part way through the following one before I post it :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this! You can find me on tumblr [here](http://freckledbodty.tumblr.com/) if you feel like it <3

It was raining wherever Eren was too. Levi could feel it through the bond: a familiar sighing feeling (if sighs could be feelings) that always came the moment Eren’s day was dampened by dark clouds. As Levi sipped at his coffee, watching his own city’s rain falling on the high street outside the window, he let his mind drift over to Eren. There was no need for walls today, the were both at ease, though he could tell something was annoying Eren and he was trying to work out what it was called when the weather matched your feelings. 

_“Pathetic fallacy,” _Levi told him, interrupting Eren’s thought.__

_“It’s pathetic alright…”_ Eren said back, a sense of pleasant surprise about Levi initiating a conversation between them for once. Eren seemed to struggle to sense when Levi’s walls were up or down, so most of the time Levi surprised him when he did speak through the bond. The stayed silent for a while, just feeling one another in their minds, both watching the rain. 

Eren turned 21 in a month, and yet they’d still not managed to meet. When they were younger, Eren travelled and Levi was stuck in university. Now, it was the other way around: Levi’s job sent him on business trips all the time, and Eren’s university was not only keeping him busy, but sucking all his money from him, leaving no room for planning trips to whatever country Levi was shoved into for work. 

Idly, Levi remembered the days before the bond had clicked; he was an idiot back then for not caring, when now he couldn’t look at a pair of soulmates together without a horrific jealousy reminding him that the world was a pile of steaming shit. 

_“Can you not?”_ Eren’s pained thought trickled over to him. _“I am currently try to eat lunch...”_

Levi shifted his hand, covering the hint of a smirk that teased his lips. _“Oh? What’re you having?”_

_“Beef stew…”_

Levi was grateful that he had years of holding back his emotions, as he avoided snorting aloud at the comment. Though he had no doubt that Eren could sense the overwhelming amusement he felt. 

_“A literal pile of steaming shit then?”_

_“Wow. Thanks. Now I’m going to go hungry.”_

_“You’re welcome, brat.”_

They two remained in pleasant silence after that: a day without too many heightened emotions on Eren’s part meant they could leave the bond open, and it was a kind of nice break from keeping at arm’s length from one another’s minds. After a while, Levi started to stand up, well aware that he had to get back to his new office - his lunch break had technically finished ages ago, but he’d been enjoying the quiet with Eren. 

_“Wait.”_

Levi stopped, standing at the coffee shop counter, staring off out the window. _“What?”_

_“Cough.”_

Levi sighed. It was an old ritual of sorts between the two of them that Eren requested to do far too often. _“Eren, you’re in the university cafeteria. I’m not.”_

_“It’s raining outside for you too… so just… cough.”_

He did. Clearing his throat as he always did, and being met with a painful drop in Eren’s mood as - yet again - Eren hadn’t heard the signal in person. 

_“Soon, Eren,”_ he promised, and then felt the bond go quiet - Eren’s unspoken request to shut it off, which Levi did. 

Heading back to the office, grimacing as he realised the moving vans parked outside had still not unpacked everything. It was one thing being bounced around various offices for the company, but supervising the start-up of a whole new one? It was Levi’s worst nightmare. It also meant, he had to eventually break the news to Eren that whilst he was going to be staying put in one place for a while, he’d have even less time than usual - which meant making the kid wait even longer to meet. 

Really, he knew in the big picture they were lucky. There were plenty of people who couldn’t even imagine having the money or resources to go travelling around the world to meet their soulmate. He was lucky his mother had made him learn English when he grew up, otherwise he’d never be able to talk to Eren even through the bond. Still, he wasn’t stupid: keeping the bond shut off as often as they did and not being able to meet in person did a number on a person’s mental health. Eren was already trying to deal with whatever emotional stuff he had going on without the stretch of the bond adding to it. 

He kept the bond shut off for the rest of his working hours as he supervised the idiots unpacking and setting up their offices. Eren would probably be stressed enough without Levi’s boiling irritation seeping through the bond. Of course, having it shut off also made Levi’s mood worse, and eventually Petra - his ever suffering personal assistant - told him to hurry up and head home so she could supervise what was left. 

Not that his home was any better of course: a new relocation meant a new apartment, though at least it was better than the hotel’s he usually spent most of his time in. Nothing was unpacked other than the essentials there though, and there was no way he had the willpower to sit and work on it tonight. Well, whatever. Living out of boxes meant the house was easier to keep clean.

When he finally fell into bed that night, he let the bond ease open again, but it was a peaceful silence on the other end - Eren must have fallen asleep already. Glancing at the clock, Levi tried to work out the logical places his soulmate could be right now: they’d decided back when Eren was applying for university that they would stop telling each other their current living positions. Levi didn’t want to make Eren think of him as a factor when he chose a university, and Eren didn’t want to get upset every time Levi confirmed he wasn’t going to be near him again. If he was measuring Eren’s sleep schedule right though, he had to be in a close time zone at least, so he had to be in Europe somewhere. That or the kid’s sleep was really messed up. He listed off possible countries in his mind as he fell asleep, like counting sheep.

* * *

After a string of good days with the bond, it was only to be expected that a bad one would crop up. Levi had been relieved Eren had been somewhat together whilst he’d been trying to organise the move, since keeping the bond open as much as they had that week left him feeling a lot less irritable than normal. Perhaps if he left the bond open all the time, he wouldn’t be such an ‘emotionally constipated ass’ as Petra called him when he was in a bad mood. 

Levi knew it was a bad one when the ache pulled him out of his sleep with a start. It started in his head, a dull pounding pain, that ultimately ran all the way down until he felt sick. Feeling Eren’s pain was so much harder than feeling his own. 

Glancing at the clock, he grimaced at the 03:12 that it indicated, and pushed himself upright before tentatively reaching out. 

Usually, Eren hated it when Levi sensed him hurting. The kid freaked out, guilt making it worse, and tended to just demand that they shut the bond off. That didn’t happen this time though. As Levi reached out towards him, hesitant and careful fingers brushing against Eren’s mind, he felt them grabbed and pulled closer. 

_“It’s not fair.”_

Eren held him close, their minds tightly pressed together that only made his sadness overflow faster into Levi’s head. The world seemed black when that happened, and Levi pressed his fingers against his eyes to try and block it out. 

_“What, Eren?”_

_“Everyone gets to be with their soulmate, except me.”_

It stung. It was a pain they both felt, but it wasn’t one they usually let spill over into each other. It stung that Levi couldn’t do anything to soothe Eren: he couldn’t drop everything and go find the kid now, no matter how much people would understand.

_“One day, Eren. Soon. It won’t be much longer.”_

_“You always say that, but it never happens.”_ He had a point, but what was Levi supposed to do about it? Apparently Eren didn’t want an answer, because he continued, the words flooding Levi’s mind before he could even form one himself. _“And everyone I know is here with their soulmate. They’re together and talking and touching each other and able to keep the bond open as long as they want. And everyone always asks me where mine is. Why aren’t I ever with mine? And when I tell them we’ve not met they look at me with this pity and I hate it, Levi. It’s not fucking fair.”_

He felt Eren snap on the other side. Not in his angry way he did sometimes, this snap was a painful one, the kind where he blindly reached through the bond, clinging to it and Levi desperately. All Levi could do was let him hold on, hovering there as he needed him. 

_“I know, Eren. I’m sorry…”_

There was nothing more to be said after that though. For maybe an hour or so, the two remained silent, just keeping a tight hold on the bond and the knowledge that there was another person on the other end, even if they were barely anything more than an abstract thought for now. Eventually, Levi felt Eren starting to slip off into sleep, confident that if they could see each other, he would still see tears slipping out of Eren’s eyes as he slept. Reluctantly, he shut the bond off again, and got out of bed, unable to make himself sleep again.

* * *

_“Raining again for you too, huh?”_

Levi snapped out of his concentration as he heard Eren in the back of his mind. He was grateful for the distraction, the letters on the paperwork in front of him were starting to blur together. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced up out the coffee shop window. 

_“Yeah. Good excuse to not go back to the office though. Claim I was waiting out the rain.”_

_“And if it doesn’t stop for hours?”_

_“All the better.”_

Amusement trickled through the bond, and Levi found himself wondering - not for the first time - what Eren sounded like when he laughed aloud. Even the words they exchanged through the bond weren’t said in their ‘voice’ exactly… more like… an abstract thought or feeling that they just knew was each other. 

The coffee shop he’d found himself in was the same one he’d been into every lunch break since getting the new office a few days ago. He hoped he wouldn’t grow too attached, but it was hard not to when it was a quiet and warm place only a street down from his work. An easy escape, but also an easy walk back when he couldn’t hide from being the boss any longer. 

_“Ugh, I hate you,”_ Eren sighed, apparently shifting the topic. Someone moved to sit on the counter seat beside Levi, so he quickly moved his papers closer to him as his mind focused entirely on Eren as opposed to work or apologising for cluttering the counter top with his things. 

_“What have I done this time?”_

_“You think about coffee non-stop at work, so I’ve been craving coffee all week. I don’t even like the stuff that much.”_

_“I’ll convert you eventually.”_

_“Why do coffee shops always reek of the stuff? My clothes are going to stink for my next lecture.”_

Amused, Levi took a subtle breathe in, realising that the place he was in probably smelt obscenely strong to someone who didn’t inhale the stuff on a regular basis like him. He tried to focus back on his paperwork, but the idiot sitting beside him had this annoying habit of drumming his fingers against his coffee cup. 

_“I hate that too,”_ Eren’s words chirped in after he picked up on Levi’s line of thought. _“The guy I sit next to in Software Engineering does it with his pen all the time. One day, I’m going to snap that pen of his in half.”_

Levi hid a snort behind his cup as he finished off his own drink, before gathering up his papers. _“I don’t have an excuse anymore to avoid work,”_ he said, looking out at the still grey but rainless sky. He supposed it must have stopped sometime while he was distracted with Eren. 

_“Then cough.”_

He paused in his packing, rolling his eyes. _“Again?”_

_“We always do it.”_

_“And it always has the same result, and that result always disappoints you.”_

_“But you always humour me anyway, and you’ll do it again now.”_

As much as Levi hated to admit it, Eren was right, and he shook his head in disbelief. The same as always, he coughed. 

Somewhere to his left, a chair clattered against the floor. 

It was a harsh and sudden sound that seemed to explode through the quiet murmur of the background noise, and Levi turned with a start, staring over the irritating person sitting beside him to meet the eyes of the person sitting a chair beyond - or, standing now. Every nerve in his body seemed to be set alight at once, and suddenly, the world seemed brighter as he stared into those impossible green eyes. 

_“Levi?”_


	3. Nice to meet you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Eren meet for the first time, and it's like they've known each other forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! This is turning into more of a slow build than I expected so sorry for no warning! ~~and obviously by 'slow build' i mean like one extra chapter because this wont be a long fic...~~
> 
> Thank you all for reading, you guys are sweet <3
> 
> Y'all can find me on tumblr [here!](http://freckledbodty.tumblr.com)

Levi’s mind had short-circuited. It felt almost as revolutionary to his life as it had that day the bond clicked into being. He even felt as lost and confused as he had as a teenager back then with emotions that weren’t his overpowering him. This time the emotions were his, yet he was still non the wiser about what to do. 

“Levi?” 

The boy standing just a person away from him repeated his name, and for a moment, Levi doubted the possibility that this was really happening - that the person staring at him with such gorgeous eyes could really be Eren. It couldn’t be, right? There was no way fate or luck or whatever had been kind to them after all these years. 

The boy started to step out to move around the person in their way, to step towards Levi. He was slow, cautious, like he was approaching a wild animal, and Levi was almost glad for it. His eyes tried to take in everything he saw: the tall lanky kid, messy brown hair, tanned skin that only served to make his eyes seem brighter. It was almost laughable to compare this young kid, in his grimey trainers and skinny jeans and ripped sweater, to Levi in his pristine suit. 

Slowly, the boy reached out a hand, looking utterly terrified, with just a tiny hint of hope in his gaze. It wasn’t Eren. It wasn’t. 

“Levi?” The boy’s fingers brushed against Levi’s cheek.

And yet it was. 

“Jesus Christ…” Levi stood up so quickly his chair toppled backwards as well. He wasn’t sure who jumped into the other’s arms faster, just that merely a heartbeat later, his whole body was on fire as he held Eren to him - his fingers stroking through his hair and letting the kid sob into his shoulder. The bond was buzzing, vibrant and pulsing with this blissful knowledge that Eren was right there. He wasn’t in his mind, but in his arms, touching him. 

It was hard to breathe when he thought of that, and he started to push Eren off him - his hands reaching up to cup the boy’s face. Eren’s arms stayed tight around his chest, stubborn and immovable, but finally Levi met those eyes again, tears streaming from them. 

“It’s you,” Eren whispered, and his voice was better than Levi could have ever imagined. “It’s really you, right?”

“It’s me,” Levi said, rubbing his thumbs over Eren’s cheeks to clear the worst of the tears. “And it’s you.”

“Did you plan this?”

“Fuck, Eren. You really think I could have planned something like this?”

“Then how-?”

“Shit, don’t question it kid…” He moved closer, ready to just spend the next hour holding Eren in the way he’d wanted to since that first time he felt him, but a niggling awareness brought him back to the coffee shop and all the eyes on them. Perhaps people could understand, but that didn’t mean Levi wanted them to see. “Get your stuff, come on.” 

It was hard to usher Eren out the shop when the kid seemed intent on not moving more than an inch from Levi at any time. Eventually though, Levi was dragging him down the streets back towards his apartment, silently thanking Petra for finding him a place so near work. The whole walk, he could feel Eren’s eyes on him, but he refused to question it until they were standing in the lift heading up to Levi’s floor. 

“You’re not how I imagined you,” Eren said quietly when Levi looked over at him - apparently having picked up on his thoughts. He analysed the kid’s face as he felt through the bond, confirming that Eren wasn’t disappointed with what he saw. 

“How did you imagine me?” he found himself asking, and Eren shrugged. 

“Don’t know… like… nothing, really. Just this presence.”

Levi smirked and pulled Eren out as soon as the elevator stopped. “You imagined I was going to be taller, didn’t you?”

“Maybe a little taller, yeah,” Eren chuckled. 

Unlocking his door, he pushed it open and let Eren inside - though neither of them let go of one another, or even looked away. They were both studying, Levi could tell, studying the real life form of their soulmate in disbelief. Levi didn’t even think about how embarrassing it was about to be when Eren realised his apartment consisted of nothing but boxes and the bare minimum of furniture. Then again, he doubted Eren would ever notice if he wasn’t going to stop smiling giddily at Levi like he was. 

“Want a drink?” Levi finally asked after at least two minutes of them standing in the doorway staring at one another. He didn’t really know the protocol for this: what were you supposed to do when you met your soulmate in person for the first time? He tried to think back to what various people he knew had said, but he’d never really listened - too grumpy and jealous to listen to their stories of happiness. 

“I could drink,” Eren nodded. 

“I don’t know what I have in… maybe tea…” 

“Tea’s good.”

Levi took a step forward, and paused again as he realised Eren wasn’t intending on letting go of him. He couldn’t exactly complain but… 

“You can manage with a limpet,” Eren answered his thoughts with a smirk, looking perfectly proud of their current arrangement. 

Rolling his eyes, Levi walked to the kitchen with his limpet still attached, though maneuvering around the kitchen to make the tea was more of a challenge. Eren seemed to find it completely enjoyable, and when Levi stood waiting for the tea to brew, he pressed his face into his shoulder, the bond flooding with a happiness Levi had never felt from Eren. It was infectious for all the right reasons. 

“So, you’re at a London university, huh?” he found himself saying finally. 

“Yep. And you’re latest business trip is in London?” 

Slowly, the realisation started to dawn on Levi, and he couldn’t stop his lips from twitching into a smile. “Eren. Where are we right now?”

“Eh?” Eren lifted his head. “London…?”

“Where specifically?”

Picking up on what answer Levi wanted, Eren’s eyes quickly moved across the room. “Your… apartment?” he asked, eyes widening as he started to understand what was happening. 

Levi grinned, forgetting the tea and turning to watch the reality cross over Eren’s face - finally able to see it, instead of just feeling it. “My new apartment, for my new job opening up a branch of the company here…”

“Opening…” Levi could see Eren desperately trying to hold back his excitement until it was confirmed. “So…. that means you’re… staying? In London? In the city where I live?”

“For six months, at least.”

“Holy shit…” Eren threw his arms around Levi anew, hugging him tight as he muttered curses of disbelief. 

The bond was alight with glee again, and Levi pet Eren’s hair softly. “Told you it would be soon, kid…”

By the time he’d convinced Eren to let go long enough for the two of them to move to the sofa, Levi knew Petra would be panicking over his whereabouts. He couldn’t bring himself to care though, not as he sat beside Eren, their legs tangled together in constant contact that Eren seemed to thrive off. The drinks were forgotten on the kitchen bench, and they just talked. They talked about everything that they’d been avoiding mentioning. Eren talked about his university course, his dorm room and roommates, his schedule and how his lessons were going. Levi explained about his job, the current position and admitted at how little free time it would leave him… Eren didn’t care - pointing out that they only needed a lot of time to find each other, and that job was already done. 

He’d known Eren for all these years, yet there was something amazing this this new type of interaction. They’d already learnt about each other’s feelings and the way they thought thanks to the bond, not it was all that physical stuff that Levi suddenly realised he’d always taken for granted with other people. Each new quirk he spotted in Eren was new: the way his gestures grew bigger and bigger the more excited he got when he talked; how passionate he was when telling Levi about his course, and the way his green eyes lit up when Levi asked a question to prove he was listening; how he always looked Levi right in the eye; how he seemed unable to sit still, constantly moving and shifting on the sofa… just everything about him was utterly perfect, and Levi hated himself for missing so many years with him like this. 

After listening for a good couple of hours, Levi sighed. “So the big question is… how badly are you punished for missing lectures?” He held out his watch, waiting for Eren to learn forward and read it. 

Eren’s eyes widened and Levi could sense a spark of worry in the bond, as if the kid had really assumed time had stopped for the two of them, and Levi couldn’t help but laugh. 

“If it makes you feel better, kid, I’m skipping work and I’m the boss.”

“Yeah well, one missed lecture won’t kill me,” Eren shrugged, apparently quickly getting over his concern. Besides, Levi understood; nothing, not even knowing they were ditching important work, could damper the outright elation that came with being together. 

“And my office will understand when I explain… even if they’re probably shitting themselves now.”

Eren laughed, and Levi smiled at the sound: purer and more perfect than he could have ever imagined. “You could call them now, you know, or at least message.”

“Nah, let them shit themselves. I’m not letting them ruin this.”

Eren’s smile grew softer, his legs shifting against Levi’s, before he pulled his phone out his pocket. “Give me your number.”

They exchanged contact details, addresses, and Levi did ultimately shoot Petra a two word message that simply said ‘found him’. It may not have been a thorough explanation, but it was all he was willing to give right now. Of course, having their phones out unsurprisingly descended into more talking, showing pictures to each other, and even finally exchanging last names for the first time. 

Levi had spent countless nights imagining what it would be like when he and Eren finally met. The bond may have been in place before, and feelings and this intense understanding had formed over time, but he’d never really been sure how their relationship would translate outside of their heads. Every pair was different: he’d seen soulmates who were like the romantic ideal, all kisses and passion, long walks and gazing into each other's’ eyes; he’d seen the best friend kinds, with their platonic affection and always being on the same wavelength, exchanging a hundred words through just a glance; he’d seen the ones who were more like siblings, that fought and disagreed, but ultimately stood by each other… No matter what, he’d never been able to guess what he and Eren would be. As they sat there though, talking for hours with no signs of stopping, he realised it didn’t really matter.

It was only when they realised they could barely see each other in the dark of the living room that the time caught up with them. Levi cursed, standing to flick the lights on. As he turned back to look at Eren, he met the apologetic smile. 

“I should probably go… huh?” he asked hesitantly. 

“Do you want to go?” 

Eren held Levi’s gaze, the smile hovering on his lips, and the words that came next came through the bond - a soft brush against Levi’s thoughts from right there across the room. _“I never want to go.”_

Damn… part of Levi had always wished for a soulmate he could be an annoying brother too - someone he could barely stand to be around half the time, it would make his position as the anti-social arse a lot easier to fulfil.

“But you should go,” Levi said quietly, knowing that no matter how much they craved to stick together after all these years, prolonging it would only make it harder to leave each other later. 

“Yeah.”

Eren pushed himself off the sofa, sighing heavily as he started towards the door and Levi. The moment he was close enough, Eren’s hands reached out to take Levi’s, tangling their fingers together. He looked like a kicked puppy trying to pretend to be happy, and Levi couldn’t help but feel like this is the same expression he wore every time he’d coughed and Eren hadn’t heard it. 

“You’re here,” Levi said quietly, squeezing his hand. “And I’m here. That’s not going to change, brat, not anytime soon.”

“So… tomorrow?” Eren asked, holding Levi’s gaze with those ridiculously bright eyes. “I finished early-ish… We could get dinner? Or just a drink?”

“Sure. And we can start the process of you realising I’m a grumpy old man you don’t want to hang out with too often, then parting will get even easier.”

“You’re not that much older than me.”

“Old enough. Now get out my house, you meddling kid.”

Scoffing, Eren grabbed his bag off the floor where he’d dumped it and pushed open the apartment door, hovering on the threshold as he gave Levi another smile. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Eren nodded, and started to head out, turning just as he let the door start to fall shut. “Oh, and nice to meet you at last, Levi."


End file.
